Epilogue

Hinata sighed with gusto lowering her heavy frame onto the spindly chair of the snack shop.

Gaara eyed the twiggy legs of her chair with a bit of nervousness assessing them for structural soundness. Fortunately he was distracted by passing civilians who were throwing out friendly greetings and looks of deference at the couple. The shopkeeper at the same time was running around trying to clear out the store and bring in their best chef to make a meal for the Kazekage and his family. Gaara was about to offer reassurances to the shopkeeper that all this fuss was unnecessary when he heard a small voice speak up.

"Okaasan," Shinki started doubtfully, and Gaara swallowed nervously.

Their foster son was an extremely polite boy with above average intelligence. But sensitivity towards pregnant hormonal women was something that the father and son were both still learning.

"Do you think that chair is going to hold you up?" Shinki finished saying.

Hinata who'd been happily sipping on a lemonade and looking around suddenly turned to her son, eyes brimming with tears. Shinki's eyes widened at the look on his mothers face and he started sputtering out an apology making Gaara sigh.

Hinata had wanted to go shopping, but he knew it had been a terrible idea. She was seconds away from giving birth and the discomfort of her heavily pregnant state was making her restless. She wanted a distraction and had insisted on shopping but they walked the bazaar for a mere 10 minutes before she needed to stop for a break. Kami knows Gaara loved his wife, but pregnancy was a whole new side to Hinata he was still learning.

As he drew closer to the table moving to take a seat he discretely sent some of his sand to reinforce the legs of the rickety chair. He wasn't surprised when he felt Shinki's iron sand already there reinforcing the wood.

The father and son shared a look of understanding.

Ever since Gaara had found Shinki almost a year ago their connection had been instantaneous. This child may be an orphan but very soon after taking him under their wing, Gaara and Hinata had decided to formally adopt Shinki. The boy was already showing signs of being a formidable genius like shinobi having won the respect of konoha elders, citizens and shinobi alike.

The shopkeeper came by then distracting Gaara from his thoughts and gave the family an update on the elaborate dinner he was making. Hinata nodded along happily and then ordered a cake for dessert making Gaara wince. Could they eat all this? Oh well… they could pack it up or donate the food if there is extra. But the shopkeeper likely won't accept payment which was the tricky part... but he can figure something out for that along with his secretary.

"Okaasan, is there anything we are shopping for?"

"We are shopping for clothes for you and your baby brother or sister." Hinata rubbed her tummy while giving Shinki a kiss on the cheek.

"But don't we have enough clothes?"

"Ano…" Hinata paused, "No… honey we can get some new training gear for you... and b-babies grow up really fast. It's always good to be prepared…" her voice trailed off as her hands on her stomach grew still.

Gaara took Hinata's hands in his wordless and rubbed them, a shimmer of unease passing between the couple.

Hinata had started nesting for the baby at around 6 months of pregnancy. Before that she simply hadn't believed it was real. After the news had eventually sunken in, she had gotten worse and worse with nesting. Gaara knew it was because of their previous miscarriage.

Hinata was scared. And so was he if he was being honest.

"What's wrong?" Shinki asked, looking at his parents somber mood.

"Nothing honey, how is your lemonade?" Hinata withdrew her hands from his with one small squeeze letting him know she was okay before turning her attention to the boy.

Later the threesome returned to the Kazekage manor with many shopping bags in hand. It was around 8 PM but Hinata was ready for bed. He could tell from observing her demeanor.

"Sweetheart" He kissed her on the head, "Why don't you go upstairs and head to bed? I will put these away and then I can put Shinki to bed."

Hinata nodded tiredly, her whole body feeling uncomfortable and swollen. Shinki moved to put the leftovers in the fridge and he nodded at Gaara as a non verbal agreement passed once again between father and son. Shinki was going to walk his mother upstairs and make sure she safely got to the bedroom and Gaara would check on any work related emergencies before coming up to put Shinki to bed.

Shinki was such a responsible boy that he didn't really need to be tucked in. But Hinata insisted, and Gaara was glad that she did so because that gave him an excuse to baby the boy who was much too serious for his age.

.

.

Gaara was a light sleeper at best of times, and that night almost as if on instinct he woke up to find Hinata who was cuddled against him stiff as a board staring at the ceiling.

"What is it?" he asked immediately.

"I…I think it's time" she whispered with wide eyes and that is when he felt the wetness on the bed. Her water had broken..

He immediately jumped up, falling into action. A clone was generated within seconds and out the window to go get the midwives and doctor.

"I think we have time," she whispered, looking after the figure that had just disappeared off the balcony.

"Would you like me to help you change into a fresh nightgown?" he asked, turning on the light and she blinked.

"Gaara.." her voice trembled and he was beside her within a second. "I don't think I can do this" her eyes were huge. "Oh my god" she trembled. "I'm scared…"

"I know honey, I know… but everything is going to be okay. I'm going to make sure of it, okay?" he asked, holding her face and peering into her eyes before dropping a kiss on her lips. "Here, let's change."

10 hours later, Gaara and Shinki sat outside the Kazekage bedroom waiting for news…

"She's going to be okay," Kankuro nodded at them as he paced outside the hallway sitting area.

Gaara nodded tight lipped and squeezed Shinki's shoulder as the boy was looking rather white at the screams coming out of the room.

"Shinki," Gaara started carefully, "perhaps you should go out and play or train until this is all done? We can come get you after?" he looked up at Kankuro.

"No" Shinki replied rather vehemently, "I want to stay with Okaasan"

Gaara and Kankuro sighed. When Shinki had his mind made up nothing could change that. But what concerned Gaara and what had kept him awake more nights than he would care to admit was the fact that Hinata's mother has had trouble with childbirth…

When another scream came from the room Gaara sat down next to Shinki, his knees feeling rather wobbly.

They sat still like statues waiting for news to come out of the room and Kankuro looked nervously at the sand and metal that were spreading across the floor of the room unbeknownst to father and son.

"Hinata told you both to stay busy didn't she?" Kankuro asked his younger brother and nephew. Hinata had known before going into labor that these two were going to worry so she'd asked him to keep them occupied.

"I AM staying busy," Gaara replied, sitting and focusing really hard on the sounds coming from the birthing room. "Perhaps I should go in," he stood up, unable to stand the wait anymore.

"No," Kankuro jumped. Hinata had been specific she didn't want Gaara in the room until everything was done. Something about wanting to keep the spice alive in their relationship and how that would be impossible if Gaara saw her in this state. Kankuro thought that was highly unlikely to impact how Gaara saw Hinata but he wasn't going to argue with a pregnant woman.

"OH god" another scream came through the door and now Kankuro started to feel a bit queasy as well. Was his sister in law going to be okay? He sighed and headed to the mantle to grab some more whiskey.

"That's it," Gaara got up, heading into the suite before Shinki and Kankuro even had a chance to blink.

"Oh no you don't" Kankuro pinned the younger boy down as he got up to follow his father.

.

.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked in shock as he walked into the room. Hinata's whole body was covered in sweat and Yuri was off to the side of the room washing some instruments in boiling hot water.

"Gaara…" Hinata called out weakly and he was next to her immediately holding her hand and feeling her pulse. It was rapid… but not weak, that was a good sign right?

"Yuri?" he called out a bit more urgently as the nurses were running around bringing washcloths and water.

"We have to do a cesarean," Yuri replied bitterly. "The baby is transverse. We tried to turn it naturally but it's not working. It might be good for you to leave…"

"Wait… you are doing surgery here?" Gaara looked around at his master bedroom. "Shouldn't we go to the hospital?"

"The quicker we do this the better" Yuri rolled up his sleeves. "The baby's in a bit of distress…"

"Oh god…" Hinata's shaky voice came at that news.

Gaara turned to his wife again, sharing a look of fear with her. Yes the baby was in distress but what about her…

"What about Hinata?" He asked Yuri, starting to feel a bit light headed as the doctor adjusted Hinata into a position and draped her for surgery. Everything was moving lightning fast and he couldn't think.

"D-don't worry about me…" a whisper came… "please just save the baby" Hinata finished her face twisting in pain.

"Yuri…" Gaara turned to his friend alarmed. Surely it wasn't that serious. But the doctor was too busy to reassure Gaara.

Hinata's hands were in his as the nurses applied chakra to her lower body likely numbing her for surgery. Yuri made an incision and Gaara turned to look at Hinata's sweat drenched face.

She turned her face to him trying to smile. But her face was pinched and stressed looking. Her skin was dull….and lips chapped. He'd never seen her like this before…

Yuri did some things that made Gaara's entire body numb based on the sounds but he exhaled shakily as he saw a baby being taken out in his peripherals. But his relief was short-lived as no sounds came from the baby and Hinata gently passed out.

"The baby is going to be okay" Yuri turned from the corner of the room after a few minutes spent resuscitating the baby. Now he could hear the healthy cries of the young one. "It's a girl" Yuri turned to him but Gaara was frozen looking down at the prone figure of his wife.

"What about Hinata?" he asked in a voice that seemed removed from his body. Was he having an out of body experience?

The nurses were busy wrapping up the operation and they had pinched looks on their faces. Something was wrong.

"Gaara… why don't you take the baby and wait outside?" Yuri asked as he washed his hands and came back to Hinata.

Surely she shouldn't be losing that much blood?

In the end no one could budge Gaara. He stood exactly where he was next to his wife clutching her hands willing her to wake up.

.

.

The next day

Hinata woke up feeling horrible. Her entire body hurt. She couldn't remember feeling like this since… well since… she bolted up with wide open eyes….

Gaara was beside her in a second.

"Hinata… thank god, how are you feeling?" he bent closer to her looking at her face.

"I…I" she stuttered, "What happened to the baby?" she put her hand to her stomach which was now less full.

"She's doing good," he smiled at her. "Here…I'll bring her to you"

"Its a her?" Hinata smiled widely as her husband walked over to the bassinet. He looked tired… he had stubble on his face which was something she almost never saw as Gaara was very strict about shaving. And his clothes were wrinkled…

Within seconds Gaara brought over a bundle wrapped in a white cloth and placed it gently in her arms.

"She's so small…" Hinata looked in awe at her daughter. Her tiny perfect daughter.

"She's perfect" Gaara came to sit next to Hinata on the bed looking at their daughter together.

The baby had purple hair- lighter than Hinata's and less brighter than Gaara's shocking red. It was similar to the color Hinata had seen from pictures of Gaara's uncle Sasori. The baby also seemed to have a lighter version of Gaara's aquamarine eyes. Perhaps a different colored variation of the byakugan she thought in awe…

"Did you give her a name?" Hinata looked up at him.

"Umm… no.." Gaara started a bit hesitant, "but I was thinking if you are okay with it to call her Nozomi"

"Nozomi" Hinata experimented with the name before a big grin broke out over her face. "I love it, welcome to the world Sabakuno Nozomi… I'm your mom" she finished dropping a kiss on the chubby cheek of the baby as she squirmed.

After Hinata had unbundled and inspected her baby's limbs all over and rebundled the child and was in the process of feeding her she turned to her husband who was looking at them both with a relieved smile on his face with suspiciously bright eyes.

"What happened after I lost consciousness?" she asked while cradling Nozomi closer to smell the new baby scent.

His features blanked for a second.

"I…I" he stuttered. "You were losing a lot of blood Hinata, they couldn't stop it and we were afraid we were losing you…so they had…I asked them to remove your uterus." he looked exhausted and worried as he said that.

She gasped.

"So that means…." her voice shook with emotion as she looked down at her daughter. "We can't have any more?" She looked up with tears at Gaara and he immediately moved to her side again taking both her and Nozomi into the cradle of his arms.

"Well not biologically, or perhaps through a surrogate but … no, not naturally" He smoothed her hair, his eyes looking over her face as if trying to figure out how best to soothe her.

But after hearing what he said she calmed down. What was important is that Nozomi was okay… and that she was okay, because she couldn't imagine leaving Gaara alone to raise Shinki and Nozomi by himself. The rest… well the rest they could figure out over time. But at the moment everything was okay. They had gotten past the scary part which was the healthy delivery of this baby girl right here. Hinata turned to Gaara using one hand to cup his cheek kissing him unexpectedly.

"Thank you" She said gently peering deeply into Gaara's eyes showing him that she was okay, everything was okay and they would be okay and she saw his shoulders drop down in relief.

He carried a lot of tension like that, unspoken on his shoulders. For her, for Shinki, for his family, for the country... and the list went on.

"For what" he asked as she moved in for another kiss, this time slower and deeper. Their chapped lips clinging to each other indicative of the ordeal they had gone through.

"For being there for me… during the delivery and during the pregnancy… and just all of it really" her chin wobbled and she cursed the hormones running through her.

Gaara didn't reply back. Instead he crushed her and Nozomi in his arms as gently as he could and she saw him ushering Shinki into the room using his sand as he pulled their son into the family hug. Hinata too wrapped her arm around Shinki dropping a kiss on his head.

Everything was going to be okay.

Everything that mattered to her in the world was right here... in her arms. And as long as she had them, everything would be okay.

.

.

A year later

Hinata smiled and watched Shinki gently guide Nozomi on their outdoor patio as the little girl experimented with walking on increasingly confident and chubby legs.

Hinata wrung the water off of a small dress, snapped excess water off and gently placed it on the clothesline clipping it in place. Today was laundry day… and life was good. After Hinata's recovery which consisted of a few days in the hospital and a few weeks of bed rest she had steadily improved as Nozomi had continued to steadily grow.

Gaara was still busy as the Kazekage, but he spent every morning and evening helping her with the kids and she knew if she ever needed him he was just a message away.

He had been truly a great husband and father this past year as they learned what it was like to function as a family unit. He was especially good with feeding the kids, putting them to bed, and helping Shinki with his homework and training. Each night wasn't complete until Gaara had told the kids a chapter of his 'bedtime' story and from what she could tell he was making it up night by night on the spot as he went on.

Nozomi couldn't understand the story, but she enjoyed sitting on her dads lap every evening as he came home from work, mainly tugging on Gaara's hair while he entertained Shinki with his storytelling. Most of the time Nozomi usually went to sleep on Gaara's lap as the story neared to an end and then Gaara would put the little girl to bed as Hinata worked on putting the finishing touches on dinner. And for the remainder of the evening Gaara and Hinata focused on catching up with each other and Shinki, making sure to give the boy quality and personal attention.

She felt stronger as a woman now… she had gone through so much but had come out of it in one piece. And that gave her a sense of peace as she woke up everyday ready and excited for a day ahead filled with things that she had not even dreamt as being possible a few years ago.

She smiled looking at her two children frolicking as Nozomi experimented with 'running' wobbling over just as Shinki caught her not letting her hit the ground.

Now that one though… she thought looking at her beautiful daughter that looked not even a little phased at her near tumble.

Between her brother, father, uncle, aunt and Hinata of course, everyone made sure that Nozomi's every wish was fulfilled and not even a tiny scratch got on her precious body. She could tell her daughter was probably going to grow up more than a little spoiled... but,... well that was a problem she would happily accept.

.

.

As time went on Hinata's fears of a spoiled daughter turned out to be unfounded because Gaara and her went on to have another child through surrogacy and adopted a baby who'd been orphaned upon her mothers death rounding their family to a large number of six!

Amidst that chaos Nozomi had to learn pretty quickly to stand her ground, fight her battles and learn her identity so as to not be overshadowed by her famous parents as well as increasingly talented, beautiful and famous siblings.

The Kazekage and his family would go on to shape Sunagakure as well as the Shinobi Nations as inventors, scientists, politicians and master class shinobi leaving a legacy for years to come.

The cherry on the top really was though when Nozomi fell in love with Naruto and Sakura's son finally elevating the long standing friendship between Gaara and Naruto to a bond between families instead.

The End.